The passing rate for each AP test is where many students start when trying to figure out the easiest AP classes. Check out our table below to see which exams have the most and least students pass for Source: College Board. Notice that some of the exams with the highest passing rates—Spanish Language, Chinese, and Calculus—are not the easiest AP classes or tests by any estimation. They have high pass rates because the students who take those classes are ones, in general, who have had plenty of prior preparation.
AP art students put in tons of work during the year preparing pieces for their portfolio. You have to have prior art experience to put together a solid portfolio; you can't just waltz into AP art as a novice!
So what does this mean? If you are strong in a subject, you have a good chance of doing well on the AP exam, even if it has a reputation of being tough. But don't just go by the national passing rates when signing up for classes! On the flip side, note that some of the exams with the lowest passing rates—Environmental Science, US Government, and Human Geography—are not necessarily the hardest AP tests.
In fact, at many schools they have a reputation for being easy. One reason is that many high schools let freshmen and sophomores take these courses since they are comparatively easier. However, since they are many students' first-ever AP exam, the students can struggle because all AP exams are challenging and tough to pass.
Also, students might underestimate these exams and not study enough. Especially if they are taking multiple APs in one year, they might, say, neglect Environmental Science while trying to study for Physics. So even if an AP course has a reputation for being easy, or the class at your school isn't that hard, do not underestimate the exam. All AP exams are difficult and you have to put in study time to do well on the test. We've talked about personal strengths, teachers, and passing rates.
But you're probably still wondering: across the board, which AP classes and tests tend to be easy, and which ones are hard?
Some schools teach US Government as a half-year course since it has less material. Psychology is mostly memorization and only has two free-response questions on the test. Compare that to AP Chemistry, which has seven. Environmental Science is conceptually easier to understand than Physics, Biology, or Chemistry for most students.
Human Geography centers around learning and applying models, and has less raw memorization required than the AP history exams. You do still have to memorize the structure of the brain, among other things, for AP Psychology. If memorization isn't your strong suit, it might not be so easy.
Finally, we want to address the language AP exams. As we saw above, foreign languages have some of the highest pass rates of all the AP exams. Why are their passing rates so high? It's because students don't just learn these languages in one year. Most students only take AP language if they have been taking a language for several years. Many students who take the AP language exams even speak that language at home or may have studied abroad. This explains the high passing rates.
What this means: if you do have lots of experience with a language, you should definitely try to take the AP language exam. Colleges frequently use AP language scores to place you in first year language courses, or even to excuse the foreign language requirement. In other words, the AP language exams are a great way to show your foreign language skills to colleges—and will be pretty easy to pass as long as you have the experience.
But don't sign up for them just because they appear easy based on their passing rates. You can't learn Chinese in a year! As a final note, you should keep in mind why you are taking AP classes in the first place—to get college credit, and also to strengthen your college applications.
In general, colleges want to see two things out of your high school classes: that you are challenging yourself, and that you are developing specific academic interests.
If you only take the AP exams with easy reputations, it might look like you're not challenging yourself. This is especially true if your high school offers the traditionally "tough" courses like calculus and literature. The remainder of questions respond to 3 sets of data and text. Free Response: 4 questions in 1 hour 40 minute. Quantitative Analysis drawing a conclusion from a visual representation and relating it to a political principle.
Argument Essay basing argument on foundational texts and class concepts. Multiple Choice: 55 questions in 60 minutes. Free Response: 4 questions in 1 hour 30 minutes. Comparative Analysis comparing policies and concepts from at least 2 course countries. Argument Essay basing argument on primary sources and class concepts. Of those students who took the exam, As you can see, students found the Comp. Both AP Gov.
You'll learn more about that process in Unit 2! Image labeled for reuse from Sketchport. Maybe this library holds the secret to AP Gov! Looks pretty cool. Browse Subjects.
Study with Hours. SAT Exam Prep. ACT Exam Prep. College Resources. AP Trivia. Sign in Sign up. AP Gov. Frequently Asked Questions. Akhilesh Shivaramakrishnan. Share Bookmark. See Units.
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